Photo: David Whitehouse, Cambodia.
Microcredit, pioneered in Bangladesh by Muhammad Yunus through Grameen Bank in the 1980s, was embraced by an unlikely coalition of Western development institutions, multinational banks, liberal altruists and self-help libertarians as a panacea for extreme poverty.
The original development goals of small loans for the poor were displaced as the prospect of a profitable new financial services industry beckoned. Early beneficiaries notably included women, some of whom were able to use the loans to achieve greater financial independence. But today, microcredit often feeds on the poor rather than helping them.
Full article published on Sasha Alyson’s website “Karma Colonialism” April 2021.
Microcredit’s transition: From grassroots success to profitable disaster | (karmacolonialism.org)